Mock-seam-sewing apparatus



E. A. comm AND E. c. STANLEY,

MOCK SE AM SEWING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 16, i920.

Patented Feb; 1, 1921.

M v :2 Mars. Eric A A (110? d'm r such as stockings.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERIC A. GORIOIN AND EDWARD C. STANLEY, Ol? KENOSHA, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNORS T0 BLACK CAT TEXTILES COMPANY, OF KENOSHA, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE, AND PARAMOUNT KNITTING COMPANY,

CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

OLE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A

ivroox-snem-snwme APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 1. 1921.

To aZZw from it emu-y concern Be it known that we, Euro A. ConnIN and EDWARD G. STANLEY, both citizens of the United States, and residents of Kenosha county of Kenosha, State of Vvisconsin, have invented an Improvement in Mock- Seam-Sewing Apparatus oi which the following description in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a SPQClilCtttlOll, like characters on the drawingrepresenting like parts.

This invention relates to an apparatus particularly designed for stitching a mock seam longitudinally oi tubular knitted goods It is frequently desirable to stitch a seam along the back of hosiery limit on a circular knitting machine to pro duce the pleasing appearance and to simulate the back seam produced by stitching together the longitudinal edges oi full fashioned hosiery. It is important in stitching such a seam that itshall extend accurately longitudinally of the knit goods and follow the Wale of the fabric. To do this with any degree oi accuracy requires a great deal of skill and attention on the'part of the operator in guiding the goods to the sewing ma: chine. i

The present invention has for its object to provide an apparatus including a sewing machine and a guiding mechanism, with the guiding mechanism comprising an expansihis support having a sharp edged wheel mounted in and projecting from the support and with the support arranged with its free end adjacent to the feed ofthcsewing machine so that tubular knit goods when slipped over this support and expanded thereby are stretched over the edge of the wheel. Consequently as the goods are drawn oil from the support by the feed oi the machine the wheel riding along between the wales insures the stitching being formed accurately along the goods. v i

The object of theinvention is further to provide an expansible support of the char acter described provided with asharp edged wheel mounted in and'projected from the free edge of the support whereby when the stitching being formed in a straight line along the wales.

These and other objects and features of the invention will appear more fully from the accompanying description and drawings and will. be particularly pointed out in the claims.

The drawings illustrate a preferred form oi apparatus embodying the invention in which the cxpansible support comprises a pairof. scissor like blades and in which the free end of the support is located adjacent the entrance to the feed rolls of a sewing machine of the Union Special type, but it is to be understood that the invention in its broader aspects is not to be limited to the particular construction either of sewing machine or guiding mechanism herein illustrated for the purpose of. disclosing the invention. 1

In the drawings- Figure l is a front elevation of the entire apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a detail partially in vertical cross section oi the free end of the fixed support arm.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the apparatus with only a portion of the feed rolls of the sewing machine illustrated and with sectionsol the guiding apparatus broken away.

Any form oi sewing machine suitable for stitching knit goods may be employed in connection with the invention. A form oi machine particularly adapted for this purpose is that of the Union Special type such as illustrated in the patent to Ondcrdonk No. 1,275,295, granted August 13th, 1918, and as the particular construction of the nnichinc forms no part of the invention it needs but a brief description here. The frame 1 of the sewing machine rests upon a work table 2. This frame supports a pair of horizontally disposed iced rolls 3 and i, the front one 3 of which is mounted in a verticalpost 5 which upon depression of the treadle 6 is tilted forwardly to conduct the work between the rolls. The needle 7 moves in a horizontal planefore and aft the machine along a line connecting the centers of the feed rolls and coiiperates with the looper 8 toform an over edge chain stitch in a well known and familiar manner in the goods as they are fed by the rolls. The operation of the sewing machine to start and stop and vary the speed thereof is controlled in the usual manner by the treadle 9. The operative sits directly in front of and facing the machine.

. he guiding apparatus is shown as ar ranged upon the work table 2 at the right of the sewing machine. It preferably comprises a suitable standard shown as a Vertical rod 10 rotarily and vertically adjustable in a base '11. These adjustments are eiiiected by means of a thimble 12 attached to the rod 10 at the required height by a set screw 13 and a set screw 14 in the stem of the base 11 which locks the rod 10 in the required rotary adjustment.

The enpansible support or arm in the preferred form illustrated comprises a Hat vertically disposed blade 15 one end of which is secured to the rod 10 and the free end of which extends adjacent the feeding mechanism of the machine and in the ease of the type of machine illustrated which extends adjacent to the bite of the feed rolls and in the line of the travel of the goods through the rolls. The top edge of this blade is preferably slightly above the plane of the I QBd rolls and lies in a horizontal plane parallel therewith.

At the free end of the blade 15 there is mounted so as to project above the top edge of the blade a small'sharp edged wheel 16. This wheel is mounted in a slot 17 in the blade and turns on a pivot 18. This wheel should be comparatively thin and the edge should be as sharp as possible withoutcutting or injuring the knit goods. in practice it may be about a hall inch in diameter, about sixteenth of an inch thick and beveled on both faces to produce the edge. It

' is found in practice that when the tubular knitted fabric is stretched on the support over this wheel that'the edge of the wheel resting between parallel wales of the goods and the goods are drawn off, as by the feed ing mechanism oi the sewing machine the edge oil the wheel will follow along the same path between the wales ot the goods and thus insure the accurate guiding or" the goods to the feed rolls and the consequent formation of the seam accurately along the same Wale or wales of the goods.

The expansible feature of the support is conveniently provided by associating with the fixed blade 15 a pivoted blade 19 so arranged that the two blades of the support are scissor like in theiroperation. This movable blade is shown as pivot-edat 20 to the fixed. blade 15 well to the right of the center so that the action of gravity tends to expand the support or open the blades. This action is preferably enhanced by a contractile spring 21 connecting the extreme plished by a flexible connector 2?) extending from the right hand end oi the blade i down through the work table about an idler 2 L over a second idler 25 to a treadle 26. bracket 27 having a forwardly projecting arm 28 is secured to the post l0 and the arm 28 serves as a stop to limit the closing or contracting movement of the support. The screws 29 which. fasten the bracket 2'? to the post extend through the fixed blade 15, and with an additional screw 10 serve to :2

secure the fixed blade to the post.

The operation of the apparatus may now readily be understood. The operative sitting at the front of the sewing machine and desiring to form the mock seam on a stocking, depresses the treadle 26 thus contracting or closing the support. She then takes the stocking usually wrong side out and slips it rapidly top end for .nost over the closed blades of the support appwximately positioning it with the middle of the back uppermost. She then, usually by feeling with the thumb and linger, juxtaposes the joint at each side of the heel and thus pinching together the tubular 'li'abric asccrtains substantially the central walc at the back oi the stocking. She then releases the trcadle 26 thus allowing the left hand end oi the movable blade 19 to drop cxpamling the sup port and stretching the stocking over the edge of the wheel l6. Simultaneously she starts the machine with the treadle S) and raises the heel between the feed wheels by which it is caught and fed along past the stitching mechanism. The stocking is now pulled off the support by the feeding of the machine and as it is held stretched over the wheel the wheel runs in the wale in which it started and guides the stocking. The op erative assists the operation by maintaining the stocking in generally correct position on the arm and holding it back with a gentle pressure so that it will not be fed in too fast. When the point is reached at which it is desired to stop the seam, the operative jerks the stocking off from the free end of the support and beneath the feed wheels, retracting the support by depressing the treadle 26. She then slips on the next stocking and proceeds as before.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent is-- l. A guiding apparatus for tubular knit goods comprising a support over which the loo tubular goods are placed, a sharp edged wheel mounted in and projecting from the support, and means movable toward and from the support within the goods and act-- ing to stretch the goods over the wheel whereby as the goods are drawn oil the support the wheel riding along between the wales insures rectilinear guiding of the goods.

2. An expansible support for tubular knit goods provided with a sharp edged wheel mounted in and projecting from the support so that when the support is expanded the goods are stretched over the wheel and whereby as the goods are drawnotf the support the wheel riding along between the wales insures rectilinear guiding of the goods. 7

A guiding apparatus for tubular knit goods comprising a horizontally disposed supporting blade supported at one end, a sharp edged wheel mounted in and projecting above the blade at its free end, a stretching blade pivotally mounted on the supporting blade to swing toward and from the wheel whereby when the stretching blade is closed upon the supporting blade tubular knitted goods may he slipped over both and whereby when the stretching blade is swung open the goods will be stretched over the wheel so that, as the goods are drawn off, the wheel riding along between the wales insures rectilinear guiding of the goods.

A guiding apparatus for tubular knit goods comprising the construction defined in claim 3 together with a stop associated with the fixed blade to limit the closing movement of the stretching blade.

5. An apparatus forstitehing tubular knit goods comprising a sewing machine having a fabric feed, an expansible supporting arm mounted in the line of the feed of the goods through the machine and with its free end located adjacent to said fabric feed, a sharp edged wheel mounted in and projecting :lrom the support at the free end thereof so that when the support is expanded the goods are stretched over the wheel and as the goods are drawn oi? the support by the lfabric feed the wheel riding along between the wales insures rectilinear guiding of the goods.

6. An apparatus for stitching tubular knit goods comprising a sewing machine having a pair of horizontally disposed teed rolls between which the goods are fed in a vertical plane, an expansible support mounted to extend in the line of the feed of the goods between the feed rolls and with its free end located adjacent the bite of the feed rolls, a sharp edged wheel mounted in and projecting above the free end of the support so that when the support is expanded the goods are stretched over the wheel and as the work is drawn off the support by the feed rolls the wheel riding along between the Wales insures rectilinear guiding of the goods.

7. An apparatus for stitching tubular knit goods comprising the construction defined in claim 5 together with a treadle and connection therefrom to the expansible support for controlling the contraction of the sup port.

goods comprising a sewing machine having a pair or horizontally disposed feed rolls between which the goods are fed in a vertical plane, a supporting blade extending horizontally substantially in the plane of the line of feed between the feed rolls having its free end adjacent the bite of the rolls and its opposite end rigidly supported, a sharp edged wheel mounted in and projecting above the blade at its free end, and a stretching blade pivotally mounted on the supporting blade to swing toward and from the wheel. whereby when the stretching blade is closed upon the supporting blade the tubular knitted goods may be sli pe'd over both and whereby when the stretching blade is swung open the goods may be stretched thereby over the wheel and as the goods are drawn off the support by the feed rolls the wheel riding along between the wales insures rectilinear guiding of the goods.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification.

ERIC A. CORDIN. EDWARD (J. STANLEY.

8. An apparatus for stitching tubular knit 

